Combat Ban to Be Lifted for Women in US Military

In 1948 the passing of the Women's Armed Services
Integration Act enabled the role of women in regular military service to be
permanent, with limitations on their assignments. Decades later, the Military Leadership
Diversity Commission, which was created by Congress, urged the removal of "combat
exclusion policies" for women and as of yesterday, it appears that the
Pentagon has plans to do just that. Sometime today, Defense Secretary Leon
Panetta will reverse the 1994 Pentagon
policy that bans women, who now make up about 14%
of the 1.4 million active-duty personnel, from combat and notify Congress
of the planned change.

While officials cautioned that "not every position will be
open all at once on Thursday," the change will mark the beginning of a
Department of Defense assessment phase, in which each branch of service will
examine all jobs and units not currently integrated and produce a timetable for
integration. Physical standards and gender-neutral
accommodations will also be examined,
and service chiefs will be required to produce a progress report, from which
the US military can establish exceptions to the new rule.

The historic change will not only mark one of the last
motions to come from outgoing Panetta but also open up thousands of jobs on May 15 in infantry, armor and other previously
all-male units in an all-volunteer military. The declaration will come after many
women expressed their sentiments about how they were essentially placed on
the front lines in Afghanistan and Iraq despite the laws,
during which time over 250,000 women were deployed and 152 lost their lives.

Critics of the change point to women
becoming sexual distractions and being unable to perform some of the more
physically demanding jobs, as well as the question of their integration in the
draft, but Anu Bhagwati, the executive director of the Service Women's Action Network, describes the announcement as
"monumental." According to the former Marine captain, who has long advocated
for the full inclusion of women, "Every time equality is recognized and
meritocracy is enforced, it helps everyone, and it will help professionalize
the force."

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